Government
As the summer season comes to a close, revenue from two new taxes in Tisbury is helping to boost town finances.
Town administrator John (Jay) Grande presented summer totals from an occupancy tax increase and a new meals tax during the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday.
The occupancy tax increased from four to six per cent, leading to revenues of $95,309 for July and August. Last year during the same time period, revenues were $64,611.
The meals tax netted Tisbury $24,796, town treasurer Timothy McLean said in a phone conversation Wednesday.
It’s not unusual to see a group of people traveling the streets of Oak Bluffs together, to see them stop in the middle of a Circuit avenue sidewalk and gaze up at a historic building, or stand next to the Tabernacle and take in the quiet calm of the Camp Ground.
But the group touring the resort community Monday morning were not tourists.
The town hall will get a facelift and Chappaquiddick a new fire truck as the Edgartown board of selectmen Monday approved bids for both projects during a brief meeting.
The town awarded a $540,000 bid to renovate the exterior of town hall to the Paul J. Rogan Company Inc. of Braintree. It was the sole bid the town received. The project, which will use Community Preservation Act funds, was approved by town meeting.
With the federal government shutdown Tuesday due to a budget stalemate, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is bracing for impact.
Chappaquiddick residents are a step closer to getting cable service, with more than the required number of residents signing preliminary agreements with Comcast.
Under a long-negotiated agreement between the town of Edgartown and Comcast, 270 Chappaquiddick residents had to sign commitment letters indicating their interest in getting cable service by October 1.
The Oak Bluffs selectmen voted Tuesday to restrict traffic on East Chop Drive to one lane this winter out of concern for the unstable condition of the eroding bluff beneath the road. The vote came as the town continues to wrangle for funding to fix the bluff, and as East Chop residents press for a complete closure of the road this winter.